Coco Gauff Rules Out Friendship with Jessica Pegula as a Potential Reason for Her Canadian Open Loss – ‘It’s Nothing Different’

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula have a solid partnership in doubles. The duo enjoys quality time off-court, too, even after hours of net practice. They have been playing as a team for more than a year and have clinched five titles already. They also ended up as the runners-up in the 2022 French Open. Despite their age gap, they have fun together and lift each other every time. But as they faced off in singles, questions arose.

Things are all good as long as they play doubles. But what happens when two friends play against each other? Gauff played against Pegula in the quarter-final of the Canadian Open, after which she made a cryptic statement about Pegula and made a curious decision.

Coco Gauff dismisses the effect of friendship on her game

The teenager lost to Pegula in her recent match after a triumphant run in the Citi Open. Pegula beat Gauff, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5. The 3rd seed won all three matches at Montreal in straight sets and ended the teen’s tournament run. In the post-match press conference, the 7th-seeded Gauff was asked how it feels to play against someone whom she is familiar with.

Gauff replied, “It doesn’t feel as much as people make it out to be. You know, Jess and I have, like, obviously, more of a public friendship because we are playing doubles a lot. But I am friends with a lot of the girls on tour. So it’s quite the same thing. But obviously, you know we are playing doubles.”

Distinguishing between relations on and off the court, the teen said, “So you know, you guys, our friendship is more like a big thing, but you’ll be surprised how often we play people that we are close to on tour. It’s nothing different, you know. You fight your hardest on the court, and then you know, off the court, everything is cool.” 

The Citi Open winner was further asked if her friendship with Pegula affects her game. Interestingly, her answer reflected a hunger similar to her idol, Serena Williams.

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The American teen sensation has only one goal, winning matches

Gauff admitted that playing her doubles partner is difficult, but also confirmed that she does not get carried away by familiarity. She stated that it is the mindset that makes a difference. The 19-year-old is determined to win regardless of who is on the other side of the court. She also talked about her emotional state while playing Pegula.

Since the duo has played doubles for a while now, they know each other’s game well. But the French Open finalist denied any personal effect it has on her. She said that spending time with Pegula does not make playing against her hard. The pair subsequently pulled out of the quarter-final doubles match in the Canadian Open, but Gauff said that she had nothing to do with it.

The teenage former No. 1 stated that Pegula has many singles matches to play, and given her schedule, it is hard for her to focus on doubles. With Coco out of the Canadian Open, 29-year-old Pegula will now face Iga Swiatek in her next round. Do you think she will clinch the title? Let us know in the comments.

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